Miracle Strip Amusement Park

Miracle Strip Amusement Park was a world away from the large, mega-theme parks of Florida. Located just across from the Gulf on Panama City Beach, at 12000 Front Beach Road, Miracle Strip resembled more the traditional seaside boardwalks and trolley parks of yesteryear. Opened by Jimmy Lark in 1963, Miracle Strip grew up beside the Starliner roller coaster and just kept getting bigger and better.

The park had been well maintained, with attractive landscaping added in a mid-1990’s renovation. A nice touch was the many covered bench swings that took the place of stationary benches throughout the park. Parents could sit, gently rocking, and relax while the kids took yet another ride on the biplanes or bumblebee ride.

By the end, there was a full complement of typical carnival rides lining the midway at Miracle Strip: Big Eli Ferris Wheel, wave swinger, merry-go-round, musik express, paratrooper, teacup ride, spider, train ride, Looper (loop-o-plane), Sea Dragon (swinging boat), Shockwave (Kamikaze), bumper cars, mini-enterprise, the O2 drop ride, a variety of small scale versions and spinning rides for the small fry, and more… read more >